


for what it's worth

by IzzieBee



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, I will go down with this trope, Season/Series 02, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 06:55:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17055251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IzzieBee/pseuds/IzzieBee
Summary: “You are dangerous Karolina Dean.”Karolina grinned, and who would have thought the perfect church girl could look so deliciously wicked.ORNico and Karolina's first night at the hostel





	for what it's worth

**Author's Note:**

> WE ARE IN THE FINAL STRETCH Y'ALLLLLL!!!!!
> 
> I am pretty excited. 
> 
> (This is probably a one shot, but if people like it, I could be persuaded into doing a bunch about sharing a room at the hostel...
> 
> But no one loves the bed sharing trope and fluff sooooooo....) 
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

When Nico had claimed the ‘tree room’ as her and Karolina’s bedroom, she hadn’t really put much thought into it. 

They had been going from room to room, the six of them, assessing and wondering at this gift that had fallen into their laps. She had let herself be pulled along, first by Molly’s excited running commentary, and then by Karolina’s steady hand on the small of her back (when she had first placed it there Nico had felt a spark race down the backs of her legs, cementing her to the floor). 

Despite the comforting feeling of Karolina so close, and the relief to see her friends actually smile Nico had been struck by a nagging suspicion that none of this could come this easy, nothing did, not anymore.

Nico had felt so jagged, the high of finding this hotel or hostel or whatever it was, fading fast, and all that was left was bone tiredness laced with the stubborn traces of adrenaline still rushing through her system. 

She had looked around the room critically, eyeing the dusty windows, the broken dolls and missing floorboards,.

The Four Seasons this was not, but it was safe, Nico had reminded herself. 

(For now). 

“Me and Karolina will sleep here.” Nico had decided, out loud, as she looked around the room, light peeking through the cracks the branches and roots made; as far as they could figure out, sunlight had a regenerative property with Karolina’s powers. 

It had seemed like a no brainer at the time.

(It probably should have worried her that she didn’t even consider claiming a room for just herself, or with a different roommate. It should have scared her she couldn’t imagine falling asleep with Karolina out of reach). 

“Right?” Nico said again, a little louder, when no one had responded, and she could feel Karolina turn into her, curling in as much as her height would allow, as though she was avoiding everyone else’s eyes. Nico had been too tired to think anything else besides the fact that Karolina felt unreasonably good so close (she had felt so warm, like sitting in the sun). 

“Yah, that makes sense,” Gert had said, adjusting her glasses, her cheeks pink.

No one else had said anything else for a little bit, and Nico realized then that she should have felt embarrassed. 

(She hadn’t, but she looked at her shoes, avoiding everyone’s gaze, anyway.) 

Chase had finally broken the tension, by clearing his throat. 

“Let’s keep on going.”

Nico had done her best to ignore the look on Alex’s face as she and Karolina walked past him into the hall; the last thing she wanted to do in that moment was to pity him. 

Karolina hadn’t said anything about there sleeping arrangements, as they continued on, from room to room, instead, she had just slipped her hand into Nico's, lacing their fingers together. 

Nico had honestly forgotten about the bedroom all together, there were so many other things to do. They had to feed Old Lace and then themselves (that order was critical); they talked next steps, their parents, all of it until they were blue in the face and Molly’s eyes began to droop. 

It wasn’t until the rest of their friends started making their way to bed, first Molly, then Chase and Gert (who were absolutely not as subtle as they thought they were), then Alex, that Nico remembered, with a jolt, just who would be sharing her bed tonight. 

Karolina threw a look in her direction from where they were sitting too close for it to be platonic.

“Want to go up to bed?”

Karolina started to bite her lip as she waited for Nico’s answer, and all she could think was that she wanted to be the one doing the biting. 

(So not platonic). 

Nico swallowed. 

“Yah.” 

They walked up quietly, Nico had to force herself to remember to sidestep the holes in the floors. They didn’t hold hands, or even do that linking pinkies thing Karolina liked to do.

(She tried to hate the delicate part of being with a girl, the softness, the quiet intimacy of a shared look. 

She failed every time). 

They reached the door without incident, but there was an energy between the two two of them that she couldn’t name. 

Not as they unpacked their things (which took all of three minutes, considering their lack of worldly possessions at the moment), not as they closed the curtains, (threadbare, but better than nothing), not as they both stood awkwardly by the bed. 

Thankfully, Nico noted to herself as they avoided eye contact, they had already changed into their approximation of pajamas, (thrift store tank tops, and leggings found in dollar bin a few days ago). Karolina still looked sinfully good, (because that’s how she looked in absolutely everything), but Nico didn’t think she could handle watching her get changed, not yet, not now. 

Apparently they couldn’t even handle looking at each other. 

Nico took a deep breath, looking up at, her eyes meeting Karolina’s startling blue gaze. 

“So…”

Karolina shifted from one foot to the other. 

“So…” Nico echoed. 

The awkwardness was threatening to swallow her whole. Nico had to break the silence, she just had to. So, she did. 

“It’s not like we haven’t slept together before.”

Karolina’s jaw dropped and in a different context the look on her face would probably be pretty funny. 

“What?” Karolina squeaked. 

“Next to each other, in the van,” Nico rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the feeling of blood rushing to her cheeks, “You know what I mean.” 

“Yep,” Karolina’s cheeks were bright red too, so at least she was in good company, and Karolina was refusing to meet her gaze again. 

This was going great

“Do you know…” Karolina started, her voice barely above a whisper. Nico wanted to lean in, but she quickly realized that would be a bad idea. 

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“Just spit it out.” Nico cringed at the sharpness of her own words, not that she needed to tip-toe around Karolina, but she didn’t need to be unkind. 

“I have never shared a bed, with anyone, before,” Karolina’s voice broke a little and Nico’s heart broke, “I’m an only child, and my Mom- I mean she wouldn’t allow to sleepovers with anyone, not even with people from Gib and-”

Karolina stopped abruptly, and Nico could hear a rapid intake of breath. 

“Like I said. Never mind.” 

Her voice sounded so small, and Nico’s stomach clenched. 

“Kar, it’s okay,” Nico bit her lip, “This is weird for me, too.”

“You’re just saying that,” Karolina mumbled, but Nico could here the smile in her voice, before a grin appeared. “We slept next to each other in the van. This shouldn’t be any...” 

“It’s different” Nico assured her. 

“Good different?” There was something else creeping into Karolina’s voice, something that Nico couldn’t entirely identify.

But she liked it. 

A lot. 

“Yah.” Nico murmured, “I am going to be in bed with Karolina Dean. That’s pretty much the definition of good different.” 

“No adult supervision, either” Karolina said, taking a step forward, moving solidly into Nico’s orbit, and it was like the gravity in the room shifted, “Anything could happen.”

Nico’s head was spinning. 

‘Anything’ was so big and wonderful and scary and she didn’t know how to breath, let alone the right thing to say. 

Karolina must have been feeling similar, or at least seen the trepidation on Nico’s face, because she abruptly took a step back. 

“I mean, nothing is going to happen,” Karolina’s voice was getting higher with every passing syllable, “We just started doing… This… And-”

“It’s okay, I know what you meant.” Nico forced herself to smile. 

She had no idea what either of them had meant for the entirety of the conversation. 

“Right.”

The silence stretched between them, and Nico was at a loss.

This was getting so complicated, so fast. They had their first kiss days ago and now they were on the run and living together and they were seventeen. 

It was a lot to process. 

All that Nico knew is that she desperately wanted to reach out and bring Karolina closer, (and scariest of all, not let go). 

“What is this,” Nico scrunched her eye’s closed; she could hardly believe she was asking this, even as the words were coming out of her mouth.

(She was so not this girl). 

“Us, I mean?” She probably didn’t need to clarify, but Karolina still hadn’t said anythings. She was instead just staring at her, (she wasn’t wearing any makeup but her lashes looked fake; it was so not fair). 

“I really like you,” Karolina started, her voice quiet; Nico couldn’t look away, “I have really liked you, for a really long time. Maybe since we were kids, and I just didn’t know what to call it. Not then, not how things were.”

Nico couldn’t help being surprised, as she stood their, feet glued to the floor. She knew she should say something, but... 

Everything she had just accepted about the world, her family, her childhood friends, had been upended, one assumption at a time, in the last few days. She had always had a soft spot for Karolina, when they were kids she had thought she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, but in that way that princesses in a movie were beautiful. 

Something that was wonderful to look at, but out of reach. 

When she was older, any lingering sparks of a crush had been stomped out by her own biases against the girl standing in front of her. 

She was the good girl, loyal to her parents, to her church. She was the girl in the castle waiting for a prince to save her. Now all her memories shifted (they had been shifting, since she saw all their parents in red robes attempt to murder Destiney). It turned out that when she was stealing looks at Karolina, she was doing the same, and Nico Just didn’t know it.

She had been wrong, about so many things.

It was staggering. 

“Did I just ruin everything?” Karolina asked. 

She shook her head. 

“I like you too,” Nico admitted, and to her own surprise, felt nothing but relief, “More than I probably should.” 

Nico half expected Karolina to ask her what that meant, but she didn’t. 

“We should go to bed,” There was not innuendo this time, and Nico wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed or both. 

Nico nodded. 

“Yah, that’s a good idea.” 

They settled in and it was almost to easy, tucking themselves into bed, under the covers, a respectful distance apart. 

(Even without touching, she could feel Karolina beside her, and it made it easier to let her eye’s start to close). 

“Hey Nico?” Karolina murmured from her side of the bed. 

“Yah?” Nico mumbled, as she snuggled further into her pillow. 

Karolina turned to face her, and Nico realized with jolt how easy it would be to reach over and-

“Can I kiss you, before we go to sleep?” 

Nico’s heart beat thudded in double time, and suddenly she was wide awake.

“What?” Nico croaked. 

“Just one kiss,” Karolina whispered inching closer, “I promise.” 

“You are dangerous Karolina Dean.” 

Nico had meant for that to sound like a joke, but it sounded painfully sincere to her own ears. 

Karolina just grinned, and who would have thought the perfect church girl could look so deliciously wicked.

Nico’s gaze fell to Karolina’s lips, whose smile just grew wider. 

“One kiss would be fine,” Nico confirmed, stuttering, “ I mean good, really good-” 

“You sure,” Karolina teased, her voice rougher than usually, almost smokey, “I don’t want to twist your arm.”

“Twisting,” Nico whispered her mind flashing to R -rated possibilities she has only ever wondered about. Based on Karolina’s face she knew exactly where her mind had just went. 

“I can’t believe I just said that.” 

“It’s okay,” Karolina teased “I won't tell.”

“Promise?”

Karolina leaned in and kissed her solidly, her hands bracketing her face, and her breath left her lungs like it always did. 

(It didn’t matter if it was a quick kiss, from some stolen moment, or a kiss that lingered so Nico could feel in every inch of her being, these kisses took her breath away.)

This wasn’t a quick kiss before the team came back, or even the hesitant kiss in a school hallway. This was a kiss she could drown in. This was assured, and solid, and Nico found herself pulling Karolina on top of her, the weight comforting, even as her lungs burned for oxygen. 

As soon as it had started it was over and Nico found herself chasing Karolina’s lips, gasping. 

“Promise,” Karolina murmured back breathlessly. 

“I am glad you are here next to me,” Nico let Karolina pull away, slightly, but they were now only inches apart, lying side by side. 

“Same.” 

Nico couldn’t suppress a yawn, even if she tried to muffle it in a pillow. She looked up at Karolina apologetically, who just smiled in return. 

“I am tired too.” 

“Yah.”

“Well,” Sleep started tugging at all of her limbs, the days of sleepless nights catching up with her; she still didn’t know what the protocol here was, should she just close her eye’s? “Goodnight.”

Karolina closed her eyes before Nico did. 

She stared, only for a moment or two (she didn’t want to be caught staring, that was too vulnerable, even now). 

Nico closed her eyes. 

“Goodnight.”

Karolina was the last thing she saw before she fell asleep, and she was the last thing on her mind as everything faded away. 

She wasn’t thinking of her parents, who always seemed to be only a step behind them, or about Alex and his puppy dog eyes following her from place to place, or where they were going to find their next meal, or how they were going to stop pride. 

She didn’t see any of that; her mind stopped racing like it had been for days. Instead she just thought of her, of Karolina, as she fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
